Coconut Cream Pie Bars

So sometimes I’m in the mood to create something and I don’t really want to make a plan (and by sometimes I actually mean all the time). I typically choose one ingredient to start with and then just go from there. This time my ingredient was a can of condensed milk that had been shuffled around in the pantry for far too long…

I did a little Pinterest research and found a lot of drool-worthy recipes for cookie bars. Sounds tasty enough, right? So I went for it. Cookie bars became pie bars, and of course I snuck in a little protein (in addition to the almond crust). I put greek yogurt in basically everything I make so that was a natural choice (yay, more protein). And coconut, you can never go wrong with coconut. I call my final product coconut cream pie bars. I single-handedly inhaled the entire batch in a matter of days. Opps! 🙂

Ingredients:

Crust

¾ cup almonds

½ cup oats

½ cup pitted dates

¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream

½ cup coconut oil

2/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

2 cups greek yogurt (I used Fage)

2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons honey

Instructions:

1. Grease 9 x 9 pan with coconut oil.

2. For the crust, put almonds and oats into food processor and blend until finely chopped.

3. Add the rest of the crust ingredients to food processor until sticky. If the mixture isn’t clumping together you might need to add more dates.

4. Transfer the crust mixture to the greased pan and press in to an even layer. Place in freezer while you’re making the cream.

5. Pour coconut oil and flakes into food processor and blend for several minutes (my apologies to the downstairs neighbors, our food processor sounds like a chain saw).

6. Once the coconut mixture has become creamy add the remaining ingredients and blend until even mixed.

7. Take crust out of freezer and coat top with the cream. If you want to get really crazy sprinkle with additional coconut flakes, or maybe mini chocolate chips!

8. Freeze the finished bars for 1 hour or until firm (OR if you’re like me and can’t wait just dig in early and deal with the sticky mess). Enjoy!